LGA → DCA Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · LGANo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 09:51 UTC

New York airport profile →

Destination · DCANo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 09:52 UTC

Washington airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

49/ 100Fair

Better than 14% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 14,238 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

76.7%

10,462 of 13,635

Cancellation rate

4.07%

580 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-9 min

Average 5.3 min

Severe delays

8.4%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

67 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

14,238

2 carriers

LGA → DCA arrives on time 76.7% of the time; the return trip, DCA → LGA, arrives on time 74.0% of the time, a 2.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

LGA → DCA spends 35.1 minutes on the ground on a 214-mile trip: 27.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LGA and 7.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at DCA.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

Which day you fly matters unusually much here, a wider weekday spread than 95% of 4,467 comparable routes.

88.9% on time on a typical Saturday, against 73.5% on a Sunday.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,467 in the comparison.

Why LGA → DCA flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

LGA → DCA cancelled 580 of 14,238 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 25. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 41.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 59 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather41.7%

Air traffic37.6%

Airline20.7%

Security0.0%

Of 580 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 59

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

242 cancellations, 41.7% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 65

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

218 cancellations, 37.6% of the total.

The airline1 in 119

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

120 cancellations, 20.7% of the total.

Security—

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.

Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

580 coded cancellations were recorded on LGA → DCA; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

51 min late

against a median of 9 min early

Arrived an hour or more late8.4%

Typical delay when late67 min

Cancelled4.07%

Landed somewhere else0.16%

LGA → DCA has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 9 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.

Percentiles over 14,238 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at DCA after arriving from LGA.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, LGA → DCA arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	35%	Likely to miss
45 min	23%	High risk
60 min	16%	High risk
90 min	8.3%	Some risk
120 min	5.0%	Some risk

This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 4.07% of the time and diverts 0.16% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 13,635 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.

The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 51 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 14,238 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

LGA → DCA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.3% of the time, against 59.8% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 26.5 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (LGA).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 10.1 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 4.1 points.

On-time arrival rate for LGA to DCA by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM and after 10 PM (3 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for LGA to DCA. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6 AM–7 AM	91.8% on time326 flights	91.8% on time329 flights	89.9% on time331 flights	88.7% on time326 flights	91.5% on time326 flights	42 flights, too few to score	56 flights, too few to score
7 AM–8 AM	73.8% on time128 flights	75.8% on time126 flights	73.2% on time124 flights	75.6% on time120 flights	69.1% on time127 flights	89.4% on time137 flights	88 flights, too few to score
8 AM–9 AM	85.6% on time217 flights	83.5% on time217 flights	88.5% on time217 flights	86.6% on time219 flights	80.7% on time214 flights	92.4% on time135 flights	90.4% on time204 flights
9 AM–10 AM	97 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	99 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score	84 flights, too few to score	78 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	53 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	54 flights, too few to score	54 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	54 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score
11 AM–12 PM	85.1% on time201 flights	86.3% on time203 flights	85.2% on time204 flights	81.3% on time200 flights	82.5% on time199 flights	91.1% on time181 flights	86.4% on time188 flights
12 PM–1 PM	77.8% on time124 flights	78.7% on time124 flights	86.3% on time124 flights	76.0% on time123 flights	69.7% on time124 flights	88.4% on time122 flights	79.7% on time141 flights
1 PM–2 PM	62 flights, too few to score	62 flights, too few to score	61 flights, too few to score	61 flights, too few to score	63 flights, too few to score	9 flights, too few to score	60 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	64.9% on time200 flights	68.4% on time202 flights	65.2% on time202 flights	62.2% on time194 flights	58.1% on time198 flights	90.4% on time148 flights	61.4% on time197 flights
3 PM–4 PM	38 flights, too few to score	35 flights, too few to score	35 flights, too few to score	36 flights, too few to score	37 flights, too few to score	37 flights, too few to score	28 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	83 flights, too few to score	84 flights, too few to score	84 flights, too few to score	80 flights, too few to score	79 flights, too few to score	27 flights, too few to score	91 flights, too few to score
5 PM–6 PM	66.8% on time257 flights	74.1% on time258 flights	71.1% on time257 flights	68.5% on time255 flights	73.2% on time261 flights	85.6% on time226 flights	67.1% on time250 flights
6 PM–7 PM	9 flights, too few to score	9 flights, too few to score	9 flights, too few to score	10 flights, too few to score	9 flights, too few to score	15 flights, too few to score	10 flights, too few to score
7 PM–8 PM	62.8% on time213 flights	60.7% on time205 flights	52.2% on time206 flights	59.6% on time207 flights	51.1% on time211 flights	13 flights, too few to score	55.3% on time210 flights
8 PM–9 PM	82 flights, too few to score	87 flights, too few to score	86 flights, too few to score	78 flights, too few to score	80 flights, too few to score	7 flights, too few to score	83 flights, too few to score
9 PM–10 PM	78.2% on time144 flights	75.2% on time144 flights	66.9% on time144 flights	67.9% on time140 flights	72.2% on time140 flights	1 flight, too few to score	68.4% on time145 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM86.3%

9 AM–12 PM84.7%

12–3 PM72.0%

3–6 PM71.8%

6–9 PM59.8%

9 PM–5 AM71.4%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why LGA → DCA runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft38.7%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control36.4%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

The airline21.3%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Weather3.3%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.2%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for LGA → DCA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LGA → DCA, at 38.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.3% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 59.8%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of LGA to DCA: 4.1 times the normal rate at LGA and 4.2 times at DCA. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: LGA 9.0% against 2.2%, DCA 9.3% against 2.2%. Flights that did leave LGA in bad weather arrived on time 63.6% of the time, against 80.9% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from LGA and DCA in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	LGA	DCA
Cancelled in bad weather	9.0%	9.3%
Cancelled in normal hours	2.2%	2.2%
Arrived on time, bad weather	63.6%	63.5%
Arrived on time, normal hours	80.9%	78.3%
Departures in bad weather	56,339	41,449

Of the carriers on this route, American Airlines (7.6% cancelled against 9.3% for the other carriers at LGA) cancelled the fewest departures from LGA in bad weather and Republic Airways (12.4% cancelled against 8.3% for the other carriers at LGA) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at LGA

All departures from LGA

Cancellation rates in bad weather at LGA for the airlines that fly LGA to DCA, against the other carriers at LGA in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
American Airlines	6,685	7.6%below the others	9.3%
Republic Airways	18,154	12.4%above the others	8.3%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from LGA and DCA, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from LGA on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: LGA (airlines), DCA, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Republic Airways	11,697	76.1%	4.34%	-8 min	8.2%
American Airlines	2,449	80.3%	2.82%	-12 min	9.1%

Republic Airways flew 82.7% of the 14,146 flights listed. Republic Airways cancelled 4.34% of its flights here against 2.82% for American Airlines.

American Airlines arrived on time 4.2 percentage points more often than Republic Airways on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
YX5717 Republic Airways	5:00 PM	763	70.4%
YX5749 Republic Airways	11:30 AM	750	83.1%
YX5709 Republic Airways	2:45 PM	741	65.2%

YX5749 (11:30 AM) arrived on time 83.1% of the time, 17.9 points more often than YX5709 (2:45 PM) at 65.2%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon76.4%

Tue77.8%

Wed76.4%

Thu75.3%

Fri73.6%

Sat88.9%

Sun73.5%

Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 15.4 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

February is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 14.2 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 67.0% against 77.9% in the 12 months before — declining by 10.9 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 14,238 LGA → DCA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.

Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

LGA airport DCA airport Return direction DCA → LGA

LGA→DCA

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why LGA → DCA flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why LGA → DCA runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at LGA

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology